Flux here:
Just got out of an interview with Jay Wilson, and he surprised us with one thing. Attribute points are not player-assignable in D3. They're not in the blizzcon build, but we thought that was just to simplify things for new players at the show. Jay says no, that's how it is in the game now. His explanation was that it makes items even more important, and that it lets the designers plan a bit better (they can assume players will have at least X in each stat by a given level). You still get attributes, and they will still be required for equipment use (edit: the underlined part is wrong: there are no attribute reqs for equipment in d3, just clvl and some class-specific), but they are automatically assigned each level up. Thus every Wizard will have the same base str/vit/dex/etc as every other Wizard of the same level. Same for the Barb and WD.

I predicted that this would result in a great outcry, most of it not happy. You guys are free to prove me right or wrong.

We'll have more from the interview shortly, and will post video of it later today.

instead of giving worthwhile secondary bonuses to stats such as spell damage for intelligence/energy (look at titan quest) they just remove stat customization entirely

so essentially now

1) Diablo 3 is more like WoW gameplay

2) Diablo 3 is even more item focused than diablo 2

3) Non-caster builds for casters/summoners won't exist because your str/dex/vit/life/whatever will be crap

you want to have a melee witch doctor or wizard ? not going to happen now

of all the things they could have removed or simplified in diablo 3 this was the last thing that came to mind, honestly in all my years of playing i never heard from anyone that all characters of a class should have the same stats

an ARPG is about customization and with that move right there Jay took away a huge amount of customization

Doesn't sound good to me as it limits the possible number of builds significantly. For example you can't have glass cannon max damage Wizard with maxed willpower or Static Charge (ES) one with high mana. You also won't be able to make a decent melee one, even though there are skills that would fit nicely, because of str/dex limitations. Oh.. and no more noobs with maxed str/mana around

I think this is the step into simplifying the game so everybody wins. With the current skill system it's really hard to screw up, and without attributes, it'll just make any build work.

Works for me, at least I dont have to worry about putting 20+ straight lvls into str so I can use the armor I want and end up with no life because of it. This would out and out FORCE them to keep stat requirements reasonable for the gear we use. I didn't mind the old way, but one less thing to worry about.

Works for me, at least I dont have to worry about putting 20+ straight lvls into str so I can use the armor I want and end up with no life because of it. This would out and out FORCE them to keep stat requirements reasonable for the gear we use. I didn't mind the old way, but one less thing to worry about.

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It completely simplifies the gameplay. It is not THAT surprising when you watch the gaming scene as games are more and more simple, generally but I expected a bit more here. The possible builds you can create are now less. Perhaps. Maybe with the new skilltree this will be evened out?

This is the first thing I have been truely dissapointed in. Not the art controversy, not the Witch Doctor, but this. This is a classic example of the Devs telling us how to play and not letting us choose our fun. You all like it? Well enjoy having items your char might now never be able to use. The Barb is clearly going to have more strength than the Wizard and Witch Doctor, so enjoy finding those "plate armors" and only being able to use your cloth wizard potter hat.

It was fun as heck to try a melee sorc, or to jack up my strength on ALL of my sorc to use Spirit shield...now Blizzard is going to force me to not choose how I make my chars. Stupid. I am dissapointed

I understand this isnt "diablo 2.5" but this is seriously a very large change and a big part of what Diablo is about

What a moronic change, YES lets all play like Jay Wilson likes. No more exotic strats, no diversity, no nothing. Everybody will end up using the same equip, the end.

Clearly Blizzard is trying everything to kill the replayability of Diablo. First removing non-mutual PvP, than implementing respecs and now no manual stat assignation? WTF are they thinking? Welcome to World of Diablo.

Who wants to start the petition? Cause this is one I would seriously consider signing. Altering gameplay is much different than how a game looks and listening to the devs saying the game will get darker. This is altering gameplay and telling me how to play the game.

Who wants to start the petition? Cause this is one I would seriously consider signing. Altering gameplay is much different than how a game looks and listening to the devs saying the game will get darker. This is altering gameplay and telling me how to play the game.

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Your logic is flawed. ANY game out there, you are told how to play. It's THEIR game, of course they will tell you how to play it. Just like they did for D2.

And how can they ''alter'' gameplay?! Not having to chose stats is part of D3 gameplay, that's it.

I'm a little miffed, but not going so far as to sign a petition. Inclusion of LAN, however, might be a different story...

I immediately see two reasons why this has happened. 1) Action RPG = fast paced, little brain usage, overcomplication. Yes, games like D2 and Champions of Norrath gave you the choice for stat allocation, but if you knew how to play the game it basically turns out the same all the time (Glass Cannons & Titans aside). 2) RPGs tend to auto distribute stat points at level-ups, so why not Diablo? For all the FF VII fanboys out there, if you could manually allocate stats to all nine of your characters, it'd be a much too complicated game.

That said... I'm not feeling it. Like Bill Cosby said, my mages will be forced to use cloth and burlap, while my barbs will be decked out in the heaviest armor in the game. While I care very little for customization for individualistic purposes, I want one of my Wizards to be different from another one. Yes, that can be done though skills, but visually if they stood side by side one wouldn't be able to tell the difference. ...Then again, all those Tal Rasha sorcs running around tell me I'm calling the kettle black...

Like when it comes to health globes and the loss of LAN, maybe my opinion will change come release day. As of now, though, I'm against ANOTHER decision they've made. :coffee: What's new?

1. We don't know if item use is limited by attributes.
2. You can still have your mele sorc. The Wizard's conjuration tree is mostly about melee.
3. You just said "this isn't Diablo 2.5," but completely missed why people are saying this.

They didn't take Diablo 2, changed some aspects of it, and left it at that.

For example: They didn't take Diablo 2's stat/item system, changed the stat system, and left it at that.

You are still looking at Diablo 3 through the Diablo 1 or 2 lens. Don't use what you know about Diablo 2 to fill in the missing gaps of information. If we don't know how equipment use will be limited, that means we don't know about how equipment use will be limited. If they announced that only barbarians can wear plate mail or use Stormshield, you would have had a point. But they didn't, so you don't.

Now, if you are arguing from the point of "attribute assigment is part of what Diablo is", you do have a valid argument. I dislike this change myself, but I will wait to see how else are the characters going to be customizable.